Office



Pnrniwil OFFICE;

JAMES VAYLAND, OF NFVARK, NEV EFSEY.A

TRUNK- CATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,967, dated february 5, 1884.

i Application nica Juncal, 185s. (Normaal.)

LTO all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Jamas WAYLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing inthe city of Newark, in the county of Essex and U f State of N ew Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk-Catches, fully described and represented in the following speeiiication and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

My invention consists in the combination, with a spring tongue or. hasp, of an unlockinglever constructed to automatically retain its operative position when placed therein) until the trunk or box is opened, and then to automatically assume an inoperative position, so that the spring-hasp may not be prevented from engaging its opposed hook when the trunk or box is again closed.

It also consists in a special construction of the hooked part of the casing with malleable lugs over the bearings for the lever, so that the same can be inserted and secured in its place without loose pieces for caps.

I am aware that an unlocking-lever has been used heretofore, as in United States Patent No. 244,645, issued July 19, 18,81, and in other constructions; but the lever was not constructed to. automatically assume its inoperative position when the trunk or box was opened, but required to be moved by the operator before the catch could engage and lock as desired.

I am also aware that a springhasp has been combined with4 a sliding thumb-piece adapted to automatically assume its inoperative position, like the lever I employ 5 .but in such construction the friction of the parts rendered Vthe movement of the thumb-piece much more difiicult and uncertain than that of an unbalanced lever such as I employ, as is obvious from the fact that suchconstructions are commonly made of unpolished iron castings and generally japanned, so that the parts do not slide easily upon one another. Upon the contrary, the excess of japan at some point, or the i1nperfect baking of the same, not only prevents the voluntary movement of such small pieces by their own weight, but renders the move- 4ment by the operators finger. far from easy.

My construction is intended to obviate these defects in former constructions by substituting a'lever having a function entirely different from that used in the Patent No. 244,645, re-` ferred to above, in place of the sliding thumblpiece used in another combination, and thus obtaining results not secured `by either previous construction. I will describe my construction in detail, and thus indicate the difference of function referred to above.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents the lower casing, A, having the `fixed hook a therein, and adapted to unlock with a leverkey, F, `which is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows the form of unlocking device exhibited in the other views beside Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 4 containing merely the bearings for the lever, .the view showing the casing A in perspective, `formed of malleable iron, and Vprovided with lugs c, to cover the pivots of the lever D, shown in Fig. 3 at d. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the catch complete, as it appears when locked, in its operative condition. Fig. (iis a section of the same, taken on line x a: in Fig. 5; but the lever D is shown in the position it occupies when holding the catch unlocked while the trunk remains shut, and the spring-tongue G remains in the casingA. Fig. 7 is an inside view of the upper casing, B, showing the cavity b, in which the spring-tongue operates, the tongue consisting in a flexible plate of metal secured at one end bya rivet, c, to the foot of the casing, and projecting from the opposite end of the casing far enough to penetrate the lower casing, A, and catch upon the hook a, for which purpose it is provided with a slot, s, to act as a hasp.

The spring is so bent as to remain normally upon the hook when the trunk is closed, and the upper side of the hook is beveledto make the tongue spring into its place as the casings are forced together in closing the trunk. The casings can only be separated by first pushing or springing the tongue off ofthe iixed hook a, which may be effected by operating the unlocking device seen in Fig. S, which is an inside .view of the casing A, as constructed with a permanent or attached lever, I). This lever projects through a slot, t, formed in the case `below Athe hook a, and is formed with pivots d, fitted to bearings in the sides of the casing A. It is provided with two bits, r, constructed to` project toward and press upon the springtongue when the lever is raised, as

IOO

. shown in Fio. 6, but adaptedto lie between ing in closing the trunk.

the tongue and the casing when the lever is pushed downward, as indicated by the dotted lines seen in Fig. 6. The lever thus operates to detach the tongue from the hook when raised, and is held in a raised position against the action of gravity upon the lever so long as the trunk remains closed and the spring presses toward the bits fr. The levers may thus be left in a raised position while the trunk is unlocked or unfastened at other points, and the catch offers no resistance to the open ing of the trunk. As soon, however, as the trunk is opened, the tongues are withdrawn from their contact with the bits o, and the levers, being no longer sustained, fall down into their normal position,where they are quite inoperative. The friction of the spring-tongue upon the bit or bits when the tongue is withdrawnlfrom the casing A also serves to 1re-- store the lever D to its normal position, in which it has no effect upon the spring-tongue when the latter is again pressed into the cas- The catches will therefore operate automatically to lock the trunk when again closed, without any attention being given to the levers after unlocking. 1f preferred, the lever may bc made de tachable, as shown in Fig. 2, and the pivots and bits made to enter a hole, f, in the side of the casing, as shown in Fig. l. XV ith this construction the catch operates to lock the trunk until released by inserting the bits and elevating the lever, as in Fig. 6. The construction for the bearings in F1024 consists in forming open sockets n for pivots d, and casting malleable lugs c above them, which can be bent down to close the bearing when thepivot is inserted in the bearinff. In the ligure one lug is shown bent down, and the other in the position as when first cast.

From the above description it will be seen that although the lever D operatcs,as in other constructions, in detaching the spring hasp or tongue C from the retaining-hook a, it differs in function from other similar levers in automatically assuming its inoperative position whenever the trunk or box is opened. My unlocking-lever also differs from the thumb- I piece heretofore used for the same purpose, first, in affording a purchase ortleverage for the operator when unlocking the springtongue; second, in having an unbalancedportion extending at one side of its fulcrum to operate in turning the bits o automatically; p

and, third, in its adaptation to be made removable to operate as a detached key, as

shown in Fig. 2. I therefore disclaim the constructions referred to herein as containing either the sliding thumb-piece or the lever for merely detaching the spring-tongue or .hasp5 and I claim the specific combination I have devised in the following manner:

l. rlhe combination, with thc casing B and slotted spring-tonguev C, ofthe casing A,for1ned with hook a, slot tand sockets maand provided with the lever D, having pivots d and bit or bits l', the lever being constructed toy detach the spring from the hook when elevated, and being held in its elevated position by the pressure of the spring only until the tongue C is withdrawn, substantially as herein shown and y described. v

2. The construction forthe bearings of the lever D in the casing A, consisting in thc combination, with the sockets a a, ot' the malleable lugs @,cast at one side of the socket and bent over the same to inclosc the pivots of the lever, as herein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I h ave hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES VAYLAND.

Vi tnesses XV. F. D. CRANE, JOHN A. Ronnrco. 

